The Lakeside Hall Hotel - Case Study Example

The Lakeside Hall Hotel Name: Institution: Abstract This is a report generated for the owner of Lakeside hall hotel, Mr. Michael Davies a businessperson who has managed it for five years. This report analyses the current situation at the hotel and tries to highlight the desired future improvements that can enhance better performance. A brief highlight is given of how the hotel is run, then the concentrates on the necessary improvement on the management of the hotel. The main areas of interest are performance improvement, cleanliness maintenance, hotel awareness adverts and a better management team. All the ways of boosting sales are also outlined giving the internal and external challenges that are to be faced. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 How the hotel is run and managed 4 Analysis of the hotel setup 5 Strengths analysis 5 Weaknesses analysis 7 Opportunities analysis 10 Threats analysis 11 Recommendations 13 Conclusion 14 References 15 Introduction This report is purposed to survey and analyse the current situation of Lakeside hall hotel and state the desired improvements that need to be done to help improve its working. This report has been generated from varied sources of information about how the hotel is run. The report has information of how the hotel is being run and the decline in performance it has undergone in the near past. From the complains set forward by customers and the analysis done by people national standard, it is then clear that the hotel has actually declined in terms of standards and performance(Smith & Graetz, 2011). From all the downfalls observed, there is a clear explanation of the necessary improvement that needs to be done in order to revive the expected performance level of the hotel. How the hotel is run and managed After conducting a thorough research at the hotel, it was found that the hotel is headed by two managers who control all the activities at the hotel. They supervise a group of six department heads who are responsible for one hundred workers. The hotel also has two remote sales persons who are responsible for targeting potential corporate business in their areas of jurisdiction. All employees at the hotel are entitled to training to study for NVQ qualifications in their particular area of specialization. All new staff members attend a Welcome host course that is delivered by Cumbria tourism. The hotel is also well advertised by using mail shots that are sent to potential guests twice a year. To add to this, there is a weekly advertisement that appears in the Sunday times. The establishment has a number of subsections that can be used by the visitors visiting the place (Smith & Graetz, 2011). They have a cocktail bar, 60 en-suit bedrooms, a 4 star hotel having a lake frontage, conference suite for up to 100 visitors, a lake view restaurant, public rooms with log fires, croquet, tennis court, pitch, putt, a leisure club with a swimming pool, a sauna, a gym and a coffee bar. All these form a beautiful atmosphere of the Lakeside hall hotel. Analysis of the hotel setup Strengths analysis Using the SWOT analysis, it is easier to keenly analyse the state of the hotel and decide on the required steps necessary for improvement. Considering the strengths that the hotel has, it can be clearly seen that the hotel has quite a number of things that give it an upper hand over any upcoming competitor. The hotel has a lake view frontage, which makes it a good atmosphere for families to hang out and enjoy the good atmosphere and the cool breeze from the lake. This can be utilized by the management to set up competitions for sea related games like swimming (Smith & Graetz, 2011). These games should get participants from the group of visitors touring the hotel at a specific duration of vacation. This will give visitors the psyche to visit the hotel during the specified holiday. This will also help them to market themselves when advertising the set competition to be held during a specified holiday. This technique may be costly, as it needs preparation costs and acquisition of presents for the winners. The hotel also has the advantage of long-term operation. It has been operational for quite a long time hence having a large number of customers. The management only needs to send follow up emails and vacation cards to the customers that had earlier visited the hotel but are not coming to the hotel currently. This option may also be costly as the sent emails and vacation cards are not a guarantee that the targeted customer will turn up (Smith & Graetz, 2011). It may also be difficult to track a customer and to deliver the vacation cards. They also have the advantage of having a record of good and quality service to customers. In this case, the vacation cards need to indicate that the hotel has undergone transformation and now is offering the best service ever. This action will trigger customers to flock in to verify if there are any changes in the service, they provide. The hotel has a good reputation as it had been accredited by the People national quality standard. This is a clear indication that indeed the hotel was doing well (Smith & Graetz, 2011). This shows that they need only to pull in terms of performance on the areas stated and they will revive their position in terms of performance. This option is one of the easiest that can help the hotel regain its status without much straggles. What the owner of the hotel needs to do is to be strict with the managers of departments who look over the workers. They are supposed to be sensitized on how to manage their workers. They are also supposed to be taken to seminars discussing on how to manage your workers well without problems. This option is also expensive as getting someone, as an expert in giving advice on leadership in the seminar may be costly (Smith & Graetz, 2011). The owner needs to sacrifice a lot in order to see his hotel on an upward trend to the status it was before it started to decline. The hotel also has the advantage of having a large number of workers who are well organized into departments. With this kind of staff number, it should be very easy to run all the programs softly and without any problems and customer complains arising. Weaknesses analysis Considering the weaknesses of the hotel, there are a number of things that are a weakness. The hotel seems to be having a weak manager in the section of cleanliness. This is clearly depicted when a lady customer finds pornographic magazines in her room. This is a clear indication that the rooms are not thoroughly cleaned after a customer leaves the rooms. It should be the managers’ responsibility to inspect all rooms after cleaning. This will enable that the rooms are perfectly cleaned before they are let out to customers (Smith & Graetz, 2011). This issue requires no extra cost to accomplish. It is therefore the responsibility of the owner of the business to make sure that such rules are implemented and followed for better performance of the hotel. The leisure club also needs to be observed and keenly followed for cleanliness issues by the manager concerned. The standards of the leisure club also need to be reconsidered and the setting organized such that it depicts the expected high standards. The manager in charge of the leisure club should make sure that the cleanliness of the club is up to date before visitors are allocated to use it (Smith & Graetz, 2011). The extra set of un-imaginative activities should be allocated some other place or should be eliminated permanently from the system. This resolution is actually very easy to implement and will not face much resistance for implementation. The manager in charge is the one to implement the stated changes. Food preparation at the hotel also has had a complaint from customers. Food is the ultimate purpose for a hotel and thus should be prepared with much keenness. Instances of having food with low standards can be easily looked into by the manager in charge (Smith & Graetz, 2011). He should make sure that the cooks preparing meals have expertise in doing that job and if possible have some amount of periods experience in the field. All new recruits who are to work as cooks are supposed to have undertaken the desirable course for cooks to enforce standards in the area. The manager should also organize for an extra course supposed to add expertise to those that are already cooks at the hotel. This will help them to cope with the new trends in the area of cooking. They will hence be at the same level with the current technology in cooking and will have the recent recipes in the market. The manager in charge of this section should organize for seminars where the current cooks will be going for updates on how to prepare food the modern way. This will require some funding as it requires an expert in the field to impart the required knowledge into the workers. Service delivery at the hotel has also been an issue of concern (Smith & Graetz, 2011). This is depicted when a complaint regarding service delivery was channelled to the owner of the hotel. This is a major issue though it is because of the laziness of workers responsible for service delivery. It is a very poor thing to happen in such a high standard hotel. To rectify on this, the manager in charge of service delivery is supposed to be on the watch out for the lazy employees and give them a warning. He is also supposed to forward such names to the human resource to seek for an immediate replacement of the worker. This will be a big lesson to those with the same character. Doing such, a retrenchment act twice or thrice will actually make the remaining employees to work satisfactorily. Since service delivery is one of the core purposes of a hotel, the manager in charge is supposed to be extra vigilant on any worker who shows laziness. Another weakness arises in terms of sales staff. The remote sales staffs for the hotel are actually few about the area they are supposed to cover. The number should be increased. This will ensure that sales staffs cover his/her area of jurisdiction effectively. The internal sales staffs are also few in regard to the calibre of hotel we are talking about. We need about five sales personnel to work with the manager in close proximity to achieve the required results. This option, however, is costly, as it will require addition of workers, which increases the running costs for the hotel. The owner of the hotel needs to be outgoing and put in capital to enable this process to succeed. Sales of goods depend wholly on how well the goods have been advertised. This then makes this point one of the key points. The number of times that electronic and standard mail shots are conducted is also very few. These tricks enhance business advertisement and public awareness. I will advocate that these numbers be increased so that we have at least five times mail delivery to the potential customers. This option is, however costly as it will need more capital in order to run. The number of times that weekly advertisements are placed in the Sunday times is also worrying. It is a weakness as it might lead to poor public awareness of the hotel. It is also an option that will require an addition of capital so that the advertisements are run. It is therefore up to the owner of the business to input the extra capital for the advertisements to be run. Creation of a hotel website where customers can easily book for rooms and forward brochure requests is an ideal idea. This idea is, however, not supported by the sales manager who is too old to understand the working of modern technology. It is therefore the initiative of the hotel owner to assign someone this task and make sure it is implemented. It is quite easy and cheap to carry out business transactions online. It is also a major weakness that the hotel does not run management-training programs. It is the main cause why managers are failing in their management duties (Smith & Graetz, 2011). The owner of the hotel needs to organize for management training for those that are already in management positions and those that will be incoming as new managers. This is an option that will require capital input as finding an expert to train the managers will not be easy (Smith & Graetz, 2011). Opportunities analysis Considering the opportunities that can be used by the hotel to help revive its standards, management training is one area that the hotel management needs to think critically and utilize that as a stepping-stone to success (Smith & Graetz, 2011). This will enable managers to gain new managing tricks that can be used to better the performance of the hotel. This option will require input of capital. It is therefore up to the owner of the hotel to decide and input the required capital so that the hotel can improve on an upward trend (Smith & Graetz, 2011). The hotel has also the opportunity of being accredited easily the second time since they had been accredited the first time (Smith & Graetz, 2011). Making an improvement on the present complications at the hotel can easily put it at a better of standard that can influence the people national quality standard to re accredit them as a high standard hotel. Another opportunity is in the area of marketing of the hotel. Creating a hotel website where customers can book rooms and publish brochure requests is a very wise idea. This can be an easier way of conducting a transaction compared to the present manual way. It should then be implemented at the hotel (Smith & Graetz, 2011). It is, however, costly and needs the owner to sacrifice extra capital for the implementation of the website creation. Threats analysis Looking at the threats in running the hotel, there are complains aimed at the hotel in terms of poor service delivery (Smith & Graetz, 2011). This is a big threat as such complains can easily drive away other potential customers. The management needs to take immediate action to eliminate such complains. There were also complains of poor preparation of food. This is a major threat as it is directly concerning the main work of a hotel. This can easily drive away potential customers hence needs to be addressed as soon as possible. To add to this, there is poor cleanliness around the hotel. There were complains that rooms were left dirty after a visitor left until the next visitor is allocated the same room (Smith & Graetz, 2011). Such complains can quickly turn off many customers who had Lakeside hall hotel in mind as a place for comfort and relaxation. There are also threats in terms of technology. The sales manager for the hotel is an old person hence not in a position to know the current trends in marketing. This is a big challenge and can be the cause for the decline in the number of visitors coming to the hotel. In today’s’ life, all things are done through the internet in terms of business transactions. This can be a big reason why the hotel is no longer getting one hundred percent attendance from visitors. There is need, therefore for the owner of the hotel to look into the issue and decide either to implement internet services at his hotel or to replace the current sales manager with a more sensitive person (Smith & Graetz, 2011). There is also a threat in terms of management training at the hotel. The managers at the hotel are not being trained. This causes a big challenge when it comes to their duty of management. They fail to manage their workers well in a result oriented way due to poor skills in management and it is due to lack of the appropriate training. From the SWOT analysis, it is clear that the hotel has a good number of resolutions to undertake to improve on the standards up to the required level. There are also a number of factors that may be limiting factors for the implementation of the stated resolutions. The first hindrance to the stated resolutions is money. Nearly all the resolutions stated above need capital to start. The other hindrance is the presence of employees that are resistance to change. Such employees are to be made to understand the importance of all the resolutions stated above. In addition, there needs to be skilled labour to implement some of the stated resolutions the right way. In the implementation of websites, it is deemed good to find an expert who will create and implement it for you. SWOT analysis is good for any king of analysis as it gives every detail about the item in question. It starts with the strengths of the item, then the weaknesses of the item, then the opportunities of the item and lastly the threats of the system. I decided to use SWOT analysis because I find it easier to analyse a system and understand fully the working of the system. Highlighting the strengths of a system tells you that you need to only boost the strengths so that they do not diminish. Having the weaknesses of a system gives you the areas you need to improve so that the system does not remain with low standards. Opportunities in a system are the hints that can enable improve a system within the shortest time possible if at all they are followed appropriately. Threats in a system are the loopholes that can be a big disaster to the system if they are not corrected in time. Recommendations 1. In order to deal with the problem of laziness of workers during working hours, it is advisable to reshuffle workers every after a certain period so that they do not get used to the same manager repeatedly. When they get used to the same manager all the time jokes come in and the job becomes poorly done. 2. In order to boost sales, the number of remote sales staff needs to be increased to a number that will be seen fit for a better job. In my view, they are supposed to be around five sale representatives. 3. Cleanliness is supposed to be enforced at the hotel at all costs. The managers are to supervise and ensure that every place is cleaned after use by a visitor. This will reduce instances of dirty surroundings. 4. All the places around the hotel are to be inspected before a visitor is allowed to utilize them. This includes all the room and all the facilities at the hotel. 5. The number of weekly advertisements is supposed to be increased. This includes the daily newspapers and over the internet. This will ensure that the business is well known in many places hence many customers. 6. A website needs to be created specifically for the hotel. This will enable online booking of services and rooms at affordable prices. It also is a way of advertising the hotel venture online. 7. The management is supposed to be very aggressive in looking for new ways of doing things so that they are at par with other competitors in the same field. Due to lack of improvement in whatever they do caused them to be left aside in the accreditation. This shows that they need to be improving daily. 8. The management is supposed to lay out rules and regulations to govern workers such that if one goes against them he is supposed to be punished. This will enable workers to be sensitive in doing the right thing at the right time. 9. The employees are supposed to be give regular seminars and training forums so that they can be at par with the modern trends in the market. It also makes them improve in their service delivery. Conclusion In conclusion, it is then evident that the Lakeside hall hotel has actually undergone a decline in performance. It, therefore, needs to be boosted so that it can regain its position in terms of the standards that the customers are used to. The report has highlighted some of the problems causing this scenario and need to be addressed. Among the problems discovered is the laziness of workers such that there is poor service delivery. There is also the problem about managers training (Smith & Graetz, 2011). The hotel management ought to start offering management training to managers. This is the only way that the hotel can be managed well hence giving hope for better standards. The management team also needs to decide and increase the number of advertisements in the dailies, over the internet and through standard delivery of mails to potential customers. There is also the need to start preparing quality meals as required by the customers. The management also needs to look into the leisure club and improve on the activities that take place there. They also need to maintain high standard cleanliness in all the areas covered by the hotel. This includes the internal room environment and the external compound environment. References Bohm, A. (2009). The SWOT Analysis. München : GRIN Verlag. Daft, R. L., Murphy, J., & Willmott, H. ( 2010). Organization theory and design. Andover : South-Western Cengage Learning. Dealtry, T. R. (1992). Dynamic SWOT analysis . Birmingham : Dynamic SWOT Associates . Lewis, L. K. ( 2011). Organizational change . Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. Lewis, L. K. ( 2011). Organizational change . 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